Dr. David Palandro

This summer, Dr. David Palandro, an FWRI research scientist who volunteers as Chief Scientist for SCUBAnauts International, accompanied some of the group's students to Key Largo to participate in a coral reef research project.

"This is very much like a great big circle of life," said Dr. David Palandro, a research scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and head of the SCUBAnauts program.

"This is very much like a great big circle of life, " said Dr. David Palandro, a research scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and head of the SCUBAnauts program.

This summer, Dr. David Palandro, an FWRI research scientist who volunteers as Chief Scientist for SCUBAnauts International, accompanied some of the group’s students to Key Largo to participate in a coral reef research project.

Dr. David Palandro, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Dave Palandro Dr. David Palandro has been part of the SCUBAnauts since 2004. He received his M.S. (2000) and Ph.D. (2006) in Marine Science from the University of South Florida and his B.S. in Biology and History from the State University of New York - College at Brockport (1993). While a PhD student he was awarded a NASA Earth System Science Fellowship and a USGS Scholarship. He has performed research on coral reef environments in a number of geographic locations, ranging from Florida and the Caribbean to Australia. Dr. Palandro has extensive field operations experience. He has been an American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) qualified science diver since 1998 and is a qualified Department of Interior and Florida Motorboat Operator. He has been SCUBA certified since 1991 and is currently a NAUI Instructor, which includes being a CPR/First Aid/O2 instructor. Dr. Palandro has extensive education and outreach experience. He has worked as a high school science teacher, taught at the undergraduate and graduate college levels and has produced a number of education training materials.

Dr. Palandro is currently a Research Scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) in St. Petersburg, Florida, where his duties include coral reef ecology and benthic habitat mapping, primarily from remote sensing data. He serves as the Chief Scientist and Diving Safety Officer for the SCUBAnauts Tampa Bay Chapter and is a Co-Investigator on the NASA grant supporting the SCUBAnauts. He also serves on both the FWRI and SNI Diving Control Boards.